Curiosity
by Demonic Kagome
Summary: A scene at night has caught the attention of everyone's favorite Miko, how will she affect the lives of those around her? I have rewritten it.
1. Chapter 1

_**I got the urge to rewrite this and add new chapters while writing something special for later on in my YYH story, for now enjoy! **_

_**I don't own Inuyasha or Bleach.**_

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Chapter 1

A figure sat on a light post surveying a scene of destruction. Looking down they silently watched the interaction of the beings below.

The Hollow, the Soul Reaper and the human.

The figure above made sure their presence was completely concealed; from their spirit energy to their scent.

They silently waited to intervene **if** they were needed.

The Hollow's neck extended as it launched its head at the human aiming to devour his soul, but was intercepted by the Soul Reaper as she took the attack blood splurged from where the hollows teeth bit into her body her sword wedged between herself and the Hollow.

She managed to shove it up between the gaps on either side of one of its teeth and slice upwards cutting through a small part of the mask and ripping out a tooth.

The Hollow howled in pain as blood gushed from its wound and it released the Soul Reaper from its bite.

She dropped to her knees and fell flat on the ground as blood flowed from her wound, pooling underneath her body; her hand no longer gripping her sword as it rested over it instead.

"Soul Reaper!" The orange haired human cried.

She panted as she lay there, "You… are a fool, how could you possibly have thought… that you were any match for a Hollow?" she moved her hand that had rested on her sword near her face, "Did you really think that everything would over if you gave him your soul, one soul doesn't satisfy them for long." she managed to lift her head, "If you don't stop interfering were all going to end up as its food!"

The Hollow had been thrashing slightly in its pain, it's head in its hands as the Soul Reaper managed to push herself up onto her hands and knees and crawl over to a thick cement pole, grabbing her sword as she went.

The Hollow howled once more as it lifted its head, the bleeding from its wound stopped, "I'm too injured to fight, do you… want to… save your family?" her voice strained as she maneuvered herself to sit with her back to the post.

"Of course I do, if there's a way then tell me how!"

She grabbed her sword, raised it, "It will only be temporary, but." and pointed the blade at him, "You must become, a soul reaper yourself."

His eyes widened in shock, "Wha-?"

"You must take my Zanpakuto and run it through to the center of your being, so that I may pour my powers into you." she locked eyes with him, her violet orbs completely serious, "I can't guarantee that you will live, but if it doesn't work it won't matter."

With a loud cry the Hollow began to stomp forward.

The human wore a grim smile, "Then give me that blade, Soul Reaper."

"My name is Rukia, Rukia Kuchiki."

The Hollow charged forward impatient for its meal as the human grabbed the blade in both hands, "And my name is," the Hollow pulled its hand back to strike, "Ichigo Kurosaki."

The blade stabbed through him and a sudden explosion of spirit energy flew outwards in a flash of blue and white light.

The force of the explosion caught the figure's hair and it flew back in a flash of long thick flowing silver.

The Hollow slowly pushed its way through the mass of power until its arm was severed from its body.

There behind the Hollow stood the human, dressed in a Soul Reapers Shihakusho, a huge Zanpakuto in his right hand and its sheath strapped to his back.

He lifted his sword and lowered it back behind his head, "This ends now!"

Ichigo swung his sword out to the side as he charged with a battle cry, the Hollow ignored the danger and charged, arm raised.

The carrot top brought the sword up to head height and braced it with both hands.

The Hollow tried to stomp on him only for Ichigo to dodge and cut the appendage off.

It began to fall towards him, its mouth open as it went down.

"You will pay the price for hurting my family you Hollow scum, feel the wrath of my blade!" he raised the sword and brought it down and sliced through the mask the Hollow dissolving and dispersing into particles.

He then promptly passed out.

Seeing that the only other conscious person wasn't in any shape to move the figure hopped down and walked into view of the Soul Reaper who was now wearing a blood splattered white kimono.

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Rukia looked around, she wasn't sure she had the strength to move yet and she had to get the whole family healed and in bed and replace their memories.

Her head snapped up and eyes widened at the sound of soft footsteps headed her way; soon a figure steeped into the light so Rukia got a good look at who it was.

It was a woman, she appeared to be around Ichigo's physical age, though it was hard to tell as she was wearing a porcelain fox mask with no eye holes.

She wore a short green kimono with a gold sash that tied it closed (it left little to the imagination and barley restrained her huge bust (think Rangiku people)) and held two short swords on the left side of her waist, spandex shorts peaked out the bottom and black slippers adorned her feet, she had long silver hair that flowed to her hips in waves.

Rukia managed to find her voice, "Who- who are you, what do you want?"

The woman stopped a few feet in front of her, raised a hand to her mask and removed it showing shining grey eyes with bright gold flecks, a petit button nose and smiling plump pink lips all set in a heart shaped face.

"My name is Kagome," she made a show of looking around the area at all the damage and looked pointedly at the downed Ichigo, "And it looks like you could use some help Miss Rukia."

Her bright grin caught Rukia off guard and she nodded dumbly.

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Kagome stood back as Rukia used the memory replacer on Ichigo's younger sisters.

She had healed their wounds and carried them up to their beds after dressing them in their pajamas.

They had hefted Ichigo in first; Kagome had laughed when Rukia turned into a blushing mess when Kagome started to strip him of his clothes and put him into his pajamas.

After they finished they walked outside and Kagome healed the rest of Rukia's wounds.

Rukia couldn't help but be amazed; she wasn't using kido since the energy felt different and it worked faster too.

"There, you should be all healed up, but it'll take time before you get your full powers back."

Rukia blinked up at her, _'Well it seems that her healing abilities have their limits.'_ she smiled and nodded, "Thank you for your help." and she turned and began to walk away.

"Hey!" Rukia turned back confused.

Kagome caught up to her curiosity shining in her eyes, "Where are ya' headed?"

Rukia smiled, "I have to head to the store of a certain clog wearing idiot."

Kagome tilted her head to the side like a puppy, "You mean Kisuke Urahara right?"

Rukia's eyes widened in surprise, "You know him?"

A grin appeared on her face, her eyes now full of mischief, "In a way." she turned her back to her and crouched, one knee on the ground. "Hop on, I'll take you there."

Rukia waved her hands in front of her, "No, I couldn't possibly make you go out of your way, you've done enough already."

The silver haired girl chuckled at her babbling, "It's okay, it's not out of my way at all, and besides, do you really think you can fight off another Hollow if one appears on your way there?"

Rukia froze, she had her there; right now she was vulnerable and an easy target, so she gave a resigned sigh and a small smile, "Okay then." and settled herself on the taller girl's back.

"Hang on tight." With that Kagome leaped upwards and moved from roof to roof.

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The two stood in front of the darkened store, no lights were on, _'Maybe he's closed, it is the middle of the night.'_

Rukia just about died of a heart attack when Kagome slammed the door open and called out, "DAD, I'm back!"

The small soul reaper's jaw dropped and eyes bugged out, _'DAD!'_

'Crash, Bang, Thud.' a clopping sound soon followed as the shoji screen at the back of the shop opened revealing a straw blond, short haired male with a green and white stripped hat shadowing his grey eyes, a goofy smile on his face and stubble covering his jaw. He wore a dark green kimono shirt with matching pants, an even darker green over coat with large white diamonds at the bottom going around; in his hand was a small paper fan.

"Ah, Kagome my little Hell Butterfly how was your walk?"

She grinned, "It proved more entertaining than I thought it would." and then stepped aside so that Rukia was revealed, "Rukia here needs a gigai and to be enrolled in Karakura high for tomorrow."

Kisuke flicked his fan open and placed it in front of his face, "Oh, and why would that be Miss Kuchiki?"

Rukia had long since gotten over her shock and glared slightly, "You can see why."

His eyes were suddenly very unnerving, "Yes, but what I want to know is what happened."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that it wasn't a request, but a command.

And Rukia found herself unable to disobey him, "I was injured trying to keep a foolish human from getting himself killed by a Hollow that was after him. I… gave him my powers so that he could defeat the Hollow since I was unable to; I only meant to give him half my power, but he somehow managed to take nearly all of it."

Kisuke whistled, "Wow, giving your powers to a human; you know what will happen when Soul Society finds out don't you."

Rukia looked down, her fists clenched, "Yes."

He snapped his fan closed, his goofy grin back in place, "Alllright then, one gigai and one enrollment to Karakura high coming up, it should be done by tomorrow morning."

Rukia nearly face planted as her eyes widened, "You mean you'll help me?"

He waved his hand with the fan in it nonchalantly, "Of course; now Kagome, why don't you take our guest, help her get cleaned up and get her something to eat. Tessai will set up a futon in your room for Rukia." He turned and walked back into the living space of his shop as Kagome turned to Rukia with a grin.

"Come on!" She grabbed her hand and jogged into the living area that Kisuke had gone into.

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_**Well I think that went well for a rewrite don't you? Much more detail. And I plan to continue. Please review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I hope those of you who have read my story so far like how I've re-written it. Hope ya' enjoy!**_

_**I don't own Inuyasha or Bleach.**_

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**Chapter 2**

Kagome woke up at six am on the dot just as she did every morning and stretched as she yawned.

After she heard and felt her back pop, she got up and walked carefully around the slumbering Rukia she headed to the bathroom and took a shower.

After wetting her hair she grabbed her favorite vanilla and Jasmine scented shampoo and thoroughly scrubbed her hair and then let the water fall over her as the suds washed down the drain, then she got to work with the conditioner.

Once the conditioner was washed out of her hair, Kagome clipped her hair up and grabbed her similarly scented body wash and scrubbed herself clean; even since before the feudal era she never liked feeling grimy and took a shower every day without fail.

Thinking about the feudal era caused to Kagome pause and drop her head as her mind was lost in the past.

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It was night; the battle had gone well enough till Inuyasha sacrificed himself to save Kikyo; Kagome had gotten over her unrequited feelings for her half demon friend but his death was still a blow to her.

In her grief she fired her arrow straight through Naraku's heart where he had placed the jewel.

It purified him instantly; he wasn't even able to scream.

After she lifted the jewel from the pile of ashes that he used to be, she stepped to the left, an arrow flying through where she once stood.

She turned cool grey eyes to Kikyo who stood there smirking at her.

She could read her like a book, she thought that now she would easily have the jewel in her possession and get the rest of Kagome's soul; the fool.

What she didn't know was that Kagome had been receiving training from Sesshomaru; she was now a master martial artist and was able to come to a draw with the Demon Lord.

She had even been adopted into his family by a blood ritual, her hair was now pure silver and her grey eyes had gained golden flecks, not that anyone outside of their group knew as she wore a concealment charm to hide it from their enemies.

She also gained enhanced sight, hearing, smell and a major boost in physical strength and speed.

Everyone watched as Kikyo knocked another arrow on her bow, "Honestly it's pathetic how easy it will be to kill you, and once you're dead the rest of my soul will return to me and the jewel will once again be in my possession. There's nothing you can do, you can't even compete with me in terms of power; you are weak _Reincarnation_." And she let the arrow fly her tainted power surrounding it, she smirked wider when she saw Kagome wasn't even going move; it seemed she had accepted her fate.

But Kikyo was in for a shock, as soon as the arrow had neared her Kagome grabbed it stopping it in its path and overwhelmed her taint, canceling it out and in one fluid motion she knocked the arrow and let it fly striking the clay shell in the chest causing her to slowly crumble, "You're wrong Kikyo. I am the stronger one."

With that Kikyo's body erupted into pink light and turned to dust, blowing away and leaving a glowing orb that shot itself into Kagome's chest.

She could feel her powers increase slightly with the return of the missing piece of her soul.

She looked down at the nearly complete Shikon jewel in her hand and pulled out the last of the shards from the pouch that hung from her neck and fused them together.

The jewel floated from her hand and it too shot into her chest in a flash of blinding white light, when it was gone so was Kagome.

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Kagome awoke to find herself on the floor of the Bone Eaters Well with two nodachi at her side; one had a black sheath and the cloth of its hilt was green with a white inlay, the shape of the hand guard reminded Kagome of a pinwheel; the second one was white with a similar green cloth only with a black inlay, the hand guard was the same only it faced counter clock-wise.

She was about to draw the white one when a sudden scent caught her nose, she froze before leaping out of the well and through the doors of the well house.

She dropped to her knees in despair, tears rolling down her face at the sight before her; her home was a smoldering rubble, everything was gone and from the scent of burned flesh so was her family.

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Sesshomaru had found her that day and took her in.

She had barely spoke two words to him since he found her; though what he told her about what became of her friends brought her some comfort.

Sango and Miroku got married and had their first child within the year, continuing on till they were in their late thirties.

They passed peacefully in their sleep together at the age of sixty three.

Rin surprisingly married Kohaku and they started the Higurashi line which had shocked her, the adorable little girl who called her big sis was her ancestor!

Shippo had been a real play boy till he got snagged by the Thunder Demon Souten, Kagome had given a small smile at hearing how the grown fox tamed from his womanizing ways; it was apparently like a replay of Sango and Miroku.

They both lived in the demon world with, as Sesshomaru put it 'their litter of devil spawn'.

After that he made sure to get her a new wardrobe and anything else she might have needed.

The day before he had excused himself early from lunch to make an important phone call, her curiosity broke through her fog of sadness but she brushed it off and sank back in; it wasn't any of her business.

She currently stood in front of the mirror in the guest room she had taken in her adopted brother's home.

She wore a green sundress with a white waist length sleeveless jacket and white flats.

On her wrist was a gold bracelet with five charms on it; at the center was a fox mask with no eyeholes that she received from Sesshomaru, on its left was the black sword, and on its right was the white sword; next to them was the bow she had gained from Mount Azusa and the Tetsusaiga.

Sesshomaru had given it to when it had called to her; turns out that the demon blood that flowed through her veins allowed her to wield it.

When a knock came at the door Kagome broke her gaze from her reflection and walked to the door and opened it.

Eyes widening, her shock broke through her cloud of depression as she saw a person she hadn't seen in years.

Standing there with a soft look on his face was her father, Kisuke Urahara, "Papa." she whispered.

She flung herself at him and he caught her in his arms holding her tightly as she cried, "Shh, I'm here Kagome."

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When she had calmed down they had sat together and Kagome told him about her journey.

She left no details out like she had with her mother, though she left out the part about once having feelings for Inuyasha.

And she showed him what she looked like now.

He then came clean about who and what he was, an ex-Soul Reaper Captain from Soul Society and that the reason he had left was so that their family was safe from the Hollows that came near the shrine.

After she had heard his explanation she pulled her swords from her necklace and let them grow to full size and showed them to him, "These are Zanpakuto aren't they?"

From the widening of his eyes she guessed she was right, "Kagome when did they appear?"

She dropped her head slightly, "When I woke up in the well they were lying beside me."

That cemented it in Kisuke's mind, "Kagome, do you want to come live in Karakura?"

Her head shot up eyes widened in surprise, "Really?"

He smiled down at her gently, "Yeah, you're going to need training with those Zanpakuto and your newly awakened Soul Reaper powers. And now that I have you back, I'm not letting go my little Hell Butterfly."

A bright smile shone through on Kagome's face for the first time in months before she looked down at her hands and fidgeted shyly, "I was wondering… if… instead of being Kagome Higurashi… I could change my name to Kagome Urahara, and not wear my concealment; I want a fresh start as the person I am, not the person I used to be."

Kisuke smiled down at his daughter, his eyes warm as he lifted his precious hat off of his head and placed it on hers causing her to blink up at him in surprise of the familiar gesture; he used to do that when she was little before he left, "Nothing would make me happier."

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After that it was settled, Kagome Higurashi left to live in America with a distant aunt and Kagome Urahara appeared into the world.

She went to live in Karakura with her father and met Tessai, Ururu and Jinta.

Kagome immediately impressed Tessai with her knowledge of herbs and improved his 'remedies' so that they actually worked instead of making whoever takes them feel worse.

Though there were some that he considered perfect and politely declined any offer to take a look at them.

Ururu stuck to her like glue and began calling her big sister after Kagome had latched onto her and called her adorable when she had politely and quietly introduced herself.

Jinta was stubborn but was eventually worn down and came to actually respect Kagome's strength; that and he liked her cooking.

Her father trained her in her new powers, pushing her to her limits and when the time came had her study like crazy for her high school entrance exams (he had found out about her poor grades in her last year of middle school).

He even quizzed her at the most inconvenient times, mostly during training (something to do with being able to think quickly in a tight situation, he even taught her about Soul Society and Hueco Mundo).

Her father's genes started to shine through and she passed with flying colors.

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On her first day she was nervous, it seemed that everyone knew pretty much everyone here.

As she walked down the halls looking for her classroom she heard whispers of all sorts, people were speculating on whether or not her hair color was natural, if she was some rich girl or princess, hell some even thought she might be a delinquent.

Though that might have to do with how she wore her uniform.

She wore her blazer jacket open and her dress shirt was slightly unbuttoned showing off her collar bone, she didn't wear the bow that went under the collar and her shirt was untucked, she also wore spandex shorts (she had enough trouble with perverts in the past) that weren't even visible unless you were looking for them under her skirt.

Her bust pushed her blazer off to the sides to frame the rest of her torso (she also wore the customary knee high white socks and white indoor shoes).

When she finally found her classroom she opened the door and suddenly everything went quiet as all eyes were on her, '_Great it seems the rumors beat me here_.'

She kept her head up and went to one of the unclaimed seats at the back.

She could feel the eyes boring into her as the whispering started up again and went into overdrive.

"Hey, do you think that's her?"

"Yeah it is, see she has silver hair."

"Do you think her hair is natural?"

"Yeah right, are you kidding me; how many people do you know under fifty who actually have silver hair?"

She heaved a sigh as she tuned them out her right cheek held up on her fist as she looked out the window when suddenly a hand popped into her line of vision.

Without thinking she grabbed the wrist of the hand in her face in a vice-grip and turned thrusting the heel of her palm towards the face of the person beside her.

Her eyes widened when she remembered where she was.

She managed to stop her hand an inch from their face.

The force though still managed to brush their hair back.

Turns out that person was a male classmate; she released his wrist and was about to apologize when he sped away.

She sighed again; this was getting a lot harder.

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At lunch Kagome grabbed her bento and walked upstairs to the roof to be alone; as it turns out quite a few people eat up there.

She had managed to find a secluded corner and sat down.

She was only able to eat one piece of her omelet when her pervert radar picked up an incoming threat.

Without looking she closed her lunch, placed her hand on the ground and lifted her body, swinging it around and striking the middle of the back of her assailant, pinning them to the ground.

She turned, picked up her bento and walked off, not once checking who the assailant was till a voice cried out, "Chizuru! What the hell were you thinking?!"

Letting her curiosity take over she turned to the voices behind her and saw two girls, one standing with hands on her hips, a pissed off look on her face while the other was still face down on the ground from where she was pinned.

The one standing had short spiky black hair, a slim and slightly curved frame; she held a strong stance, she was a fighter.

The one on the ground had short burgundy hair and looked to be approximately the same height and size as the other girl, just more feminine.

She lifted her head to reveal a dirt smudged face and red framed glasses, her eyes were scrunched up shut as she faced the other girl her cheeks puffed up in aggravation, "I was just going to invite her over to eat with us."

"Well you didn't have to launch yourself at her like that!" The fighter barked back.

'Chizuru' pouted, "I couldn't help myself, with the way she looks in her uniform I lost control!"

She was doing a weird and seemingly perverse wiggle from her place on the ground causing Kagome to arch her brow (something she picked up from Sesshomaru) and she watched as the fighter planted her foot on 'Chizuru's' head and forced it back down.

"Give it a rest you pervert!" she then turned to see Kagome watching them and chuckled awkwardly, "Sorry about her, nice move by the way."

Kagome just smiled, "It's no problem, though it was a force of habit; a friend of mine was the biggest pervert you could meet; let down your guard and he'd cop a feel."

She smirked, "No kidding; names Tatsuki, the pervert's Chizuru."

"I'm Kagome."

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After that she was introduced to Tasuki's other friends, Mahana Natsui, Michiru Ogawa, Ryu Kuineda and Orihime Inoue.

Orihime immediately jumped into her questions going at a million miles an hour asking separately if the rumors were true.

She seemed slightly disappointed that they weren't but immediately bounced back to carefree cheerfulness though.

She also got introduced to Ichigo Kurosaki, he seemed okay, a bit rough around the edges.

Though he threw her off with the large amount of spiritual energy that seemed to seep from his pores.

This is what made her first couple of weeks better in Karakura.

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**Read and Review! Pwetty pwease.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Shall we continue… I think we shall.**

**I don't own Inuyasha or Bleach. T-T**

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Chapter 3

Kagome shook herself out of her thoughts and noticed that the water had gotten cold.

Turning it off, she stepped out and grabbed a towel hanging from the rack and dried herself off.

Once satisfied she pulled out her hair dryer and got to work on her long thick silver locks.

When she finished she secured it into a high ponytail leaving her bangs to fall above her eyes.

When she was finished, she wrapped the towel around her body and grabbed her pajamas before heading back to her room.

Once she was back behind her closed door she placed her sleep-ware in her hamper and walked silently to her dresser pulling out a pair of panties, a bra and a pair of spandex shorts for the day and slipped them on.

She then walked over to her wardrobe, tossing her damp towel into the hamper to join her pajamas and grabbed her skirt from the first hanger.

It took her a couple of minutes to pull on the full ensemble and when she was done she looked over at her clock to see that it was seven.

She made her way over to the still slumbering Rukia and gently shook her awake, "Rukia it's time to wake up."

The small Soul Reaper groaned, her eyelids fluttering open before she shot up.

It was only because of Kagome's fast reflexes that neither of them ended up with a bruised forehead.

Rukia looked around in a bit of a panic before her eyes landed on Kagome and she calmed down, the events of last night came flooding back.

Kagome raised a brow slightly, "Are you okay?"

Rukia calmed her breathing, she gave a small smile before she spoke, "Yes, I'm fine."

Kagome grinned, "Well that's good, now come on, my dad should be finished with your gigai now."

Kagome grabbed Rukia's hand and helped her up before dragging her downstairs where she could smell Tessai cooking.

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Kagome sat at her desk taking notes as the teacher droned on, only half listening as she recalled how smoothly Rukia had situated herself in the class with a 'wide eyed innocent girl' act that they had worked on before bed; it was passable for those who had never met her before.

Absently her eyes drifted over to look at the empty seat a few rows ahead and to the right where Ichigo sat; he was very late.

'_Looks like he stayed behind to help clear up, it's almost lunch so he might not come in today.'_

Her gaze then went to Rukia who sat in the desk next to his, playing the role of hardworking student.

She seemed to be doing well so far; however Kagome was a little worried about English as it was doubtful that the soul reaper knew any, _'We might just be able to scrape by until she heads back to the Soul Society.'_

Finally, after what felt like hours the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

After closing her note book and putting it away, Kagome pulled out her bento, walked over and sat in Ichigo's empty desk, "So what do you think about your first day of school so far?"

Rukia turned to her with a small smile as she pulled out her own bento that was prepared for her by Tessai, "It kind of reminds me of my time in the soul reaper academy. Tell me, do all professions in the world of the living really require such a range of knowledge?"

"Not really, in fact most of what we learn in high school isn't even used in most of the students future careers, it's just general knowledge that we're expected to know." the silver haired girl explained as she pulled the lid off of her lunch and picked up her chopsticks.

"I see."

Lifting the lid of her own bento Rukia inspected the food inside catching sight of something odd she used her chopsticks to pick up what appeared to be an oddly shaped, tiny octopus with only four tentacles, her eyes sparkled at it's cute appearance, "What is this?"

Kagome smiled as she spied the morsel the awed soul reaper held up, "That's an octopus weenie. It's made from a western food called a hot dog and cut to look like an octopus. It's really tasty." she said as she popped one from her own lunch into her mouth and chewed happily.

Looking back down at the octopus weenie, Rukia lifted it to her lips and took a bite.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she quickly placed the rest of it in her mouth, quickly devouring the cute fake octopus.

The two then passed the rest of their time talking about the different foods that were in the bentos.

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It was almost the end of lunch when Ichigo finally showed up, Kagome and Rukia watched from the silver haired girl's desk as he talked to his friends about the 'truck accident' at his house.

Kagome lightly nudged Rukia's arm with her elbow to catch the small soul reaper's attention and get her to start walking as she leaned against her desk to watch their interaction.

"Hello, you're Ichigo aren't you?"

The carrot topped teen turned to see who asked and when he did his face was dumbstruck, "Wha…"

Rukia smiled pleasantly, "I'll be sitting next to you from now on, my name is Rukia."

Snapping out of his shock Ichigo let out a startled noise as he suddenly stood from his chair and pointed at the small soul reaper, "It-it's you!"

"Hey Ichigo, what's wrong with you?" his friend Keigo asked.

"You two know each other?" Chad, another of his friends as well as the residential gentle giant asked.

"Course not, we've never met before isn't that right Ichigo."

Kagome stepped forward and clasped a hand over Rukia's shoulder catching the groups attention as she smiled, "Rukia's my cousin from out of town, she just transferred to our school."

Keigo's cheeks flushed when he caught sight of Kagome before he directed his attention back to her 'cousin', "Nice to meetcha'."

Rukia raised her hand to Ichigo, "It's a pleasure."

He looked down warily at her hand like it would bite her and watched as she turned her palm over to reveal the message she had written on it, 'Make a scene and you are so dead.'

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A few minutes later after he had gotten over his shock, Ichigo was standing outside in front of Rukia and Kagome, "All right you freaky little nut job, what the hell do you think you're doing?! And you what the hell is with this cousin bullshit!"

Rukia quickly slipped into the role of innocent school girl while a mocking smile slipped onto her face, "How scary, you big brute. Jeepers you're not gonna hurt us are you?"

Kagome's hand pressed to her lips to muffle her giggles as Ichigo's ire rose, "First of all you can knock it off with that goody-two-shoes act okay."

"To be honest it is pretty good considering it only took her a few hours." the silver haired girl piped up after she finished giggling.

"All right forget it. So tell me just what you're doing here and why you're both pretending to be cousins, weren't you supposed to be heading back to your soul society or whatever it was?"

Rukia's face turned serious, "I can't. Only soul reapers can go back to the soul society. I haven't the power to return anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Last night I lost almost all of my powers as a soul reaper, I'm afraid they were all absorbed into you Ichigo." the small reaper looked down sadly as Kagome placed her hand on her shoulder and gave it a reasuring squeeze.

Ichigo looked away from the two, "Huh? I wouldn't know anything about that."

"Thanks to you for the time being I'm stuck in this ridiculous gigai form."

"What do you mean by gigai?"

"It's a temporary body that serves as a vessel in an emergency. If the soul reaper is drastically weakened they reside inside of a gigai until their powers come back."

"Oh now I get it, so that's why the others were able to see you, but that still doesn't explain her." pointing at Kagome as he finished.

The silver haired girl smiled brightly, "I've been involved with the supernatural since my fifteenth birthday and have been able to see spirits since that day, and while I was taking my evening walk I came across Rukia who had a bit of a problem dealing with your dead weight, so I offered my help." at this point her smile became a little too bright, "Really though Ichigo, white boxers? I never would have guessed you'd wear such an innocent color."

Ichigo's face flushed a deep red as he staggered back, shakily pointing at her, "Y-you were the one who ch-changed my clothes?!"

"Oh calm down. It's not like I stripped you naked." she snickered at his expense before she quickly sobered up and taking a strong stance she pointed her finger at his face, startling him, "Besides, you need to take responsibility for what you did."

"What I did?"

"That's right, and so until all of my powers come back it's up to you Ichigo to perform the duties of a soul reaper. It's only natural, you now possess the strength of a soul reaper. You do not have the right to refuse your calling-"

"No way!" he cut Rukia off.

"What?"

"My monster fighting days are over, that was a onetime deal." he told her.

"Don't be ridiculous Ichigo, you did just fine yesterday." Rukia argued back.

"That was only because my family was in danger, but it's not like I'm ready to go and fight for complete strangers or anything. Sorry to disappoint you." he turned and began to walk away but was stopped short.

"Oh I see how it is."

He turned back to see Kagome plant her hands on her hips, "You readily take advantage of everything Rukia offers you when she's at her most vulnerable, but when it comes time to take responsibility for your actions you refuse too even though it's your fault she can't go home. And she even said that you didn't do badly for it being your first time too." she sniffed as she stuck her nose in the air.

Ichigo's blush returned with a vengeance as he glared at the silver haired female, "Shut up! And stop making it sound like I did something despicable would ya!"

As he continued his rant Kagome handed Rukia a padded red fingerless glove with a skull surrounded by black and blue flames printed on the back.

Understanding what Kagome was doing, Rukia pulled the glove on and rushed at the unsuspecting Ichigo, thrusting the palm of her hand into his chin and pushed his soul out of his body.

After his brain caught up with what just happened, Ichigo looked to see his body face down on the ground next to the two girls, "Aw crap, what happened to my body?!" he then looked down at his hands, "What in the world did you do to me?!"

Kagome turned to Rukia, ignoring Ichigo's question, "Good luck." and walked off, back to class.

xxXxxXxxXxx

Kagome took a deep breath as she stretched lightly and basked in the afternoon sunshine; it was the weekend, the only time of the week that her dad let her take a complete break from training and studying unless she felt the need to burn some energy or hit the books (the latter was something she rarely felt the need for anymore, her days of late night cramming and stressing over tests far behind her), and so today her ensemble consisted of jean shorts with leggings underneath, a green tank top, a denim jacket and green converses.

She was startled out of her basking by a loud exclamation of, "JEEZ, WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!"

She turned to see Ichigo glaring down at Rukia as she held a small book that Kagome's dad had given to her close, "What is your problem? I am studying contemporary language."

A sweat drop appeared on the back of Kagome's head as an image of her father's mischievous grin from that morning flashed through her mind, _'I had a feeling that he was planning to mess with her in some obscure way.'_

Ichigo stuck his hands in his pockets, "You're off by a couple centuries. So tell me, how long do you both plan on following me around."

"Until you answer your calling as a soul reaper." Rukia answered

"Yeah right, whatever."

He turned and began to walk away, the girls following behind him when the screeching of car tires sounded.

Turning around, Kagome felt her blood freeze when she saw the familiar form of Orihime lying on the crosswalk as an SUV drove away.

She took off in a run to her downed friend, "Orihime!"

Hearing the voice, the ginger haired girl sat up on the crosswalk and looked over, "Kagome, Ichigo!" she exclaimed in surprise.

The silver haired girl crouched down next to her, "Did you just get hit by that car?"

Orihime looked down in thought, "Oh. Maybe."

Kagome's brows furrowed in concern as Ichigo asked, "What do you mean maybe? Are you gonna be okay?"

Kagome helped Orihime up as the ginger haired girl smiled and placed the knuckles of her fist to her head, "Mmhmm, it was just a little bump on my head, don't worry. I'm fine, I swear!"

She flinched as Kagome bopped her lightly on the head, "Don't just brush it off like it's unimportant. Jeez if Tatsuki heard about this she'd flip. Probably chase down the driver too after making sure you were okay."

Orihime's eyes widened as she waved her arms in front of her face as the image flashed through her mind, "Oh no, please don't tell her! I really am alright!"

The priestess sighed, "Fine, fine. Just be careful."

Orihime's bright and carefree smile returned, "Okay!" it was then that she noticed the dark haired girl standing behind Ichigo and Kagome, "Rukia?"

"That's right and just who are you?" she demanded.

Kagome sighed as Ichigo whispered, "Hellooo, she's in the same class as you! Her name is Orihime! Get your head out of your butt!"

Realising her mistake Rukia took hold of the skirt of her dress and curtsied as she smiled, causing Kagome to sweat drop at the old, western greeting, _'That's it, my dad is definitely messing with Rukia. He's the only one who would have taught her about curtsying.'_

"Oh, of course Orihime how are you?"

The ginger girl quickly copied the action, "Oh I'm fine, thank you."

"Well now, it appears you've been shopping."

Orihime gasped as she remembered her grocery bag that was still lying on the floor, "Oh that's right, dinner!" she quickly gathered up everything that fell and twirled the leek in her hand, "My leeks, bananas, butter and bean jam seem to have made it to."

Kagome shook her head with a sigh, "I've said it before and I'll say it again. You have a cast iron stomach Orihime."

A puzzled look crossed her friend's face as she tilted her head to the side, "Is that a good thing?"

Kagome smiled wryly, "For you my friend, definitely."

Before they could continue their conversation, they were cut off by Rukia, "How did you get that bruise on your leg?"

"What bruise? Oh, I guess that happened just now when that car ran into me."

They all looked down to see what Rukia was talking about, and there on Orihime's left leg was a huge dark bruise that looked suspiciously like a huge partial handprint to Kagome and had a familiar and dangerous faint energy coming from it, _'Definitely not the type of bruise you get from being hit by a car.' _

"Jeez, does it hurt?" Ichigo asked.

"A little bit, but I'm okay."

Kagome watched as Rukia got closer to examine the bruise on Orihime's leg as she and Ichigo talked, "You sure?"

It was then that Orihime noticed Rukia's close observation, "Umm, what's the matter Rukia?" the small soul reaper looked up in surprise and saw a concerned Orihime staring at her, "Is anything wrong?"

Rukia quickly scrambled for something to say, "Uh… right, well… You take care!"

The ginger girl smiled, "Thanks. Oh that's right." She turned to Kagome, "Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

The silver haired priestess smiled apologetically, "Sorry Orihime, I can't. I promised my dad I'd cook tonight. Maybe next time."

Orihime looked a little sad before she bounced back, "Okay then, next time!"

"Do you want me to walk ya home?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh, uh, I'm okay, really. See ya!" she cheerfully called as she turned back to the crosswalk and made sure to look both ways before she made her way across.

"Man, she needs to be more careful." Ichigo stated.

Kagome and Rukia locked eyes as a silent conversation went unnoticed by the carrot top.

xxXxxXxxXxx


End file.
